D. Hesami; F. Ghaffarifar; A. Dalimi Asl; V. Nasiri; E. Ghasemi; O.N. Jorjani
Abstract
Cutaneous leishmaniasis is one of the endemic and common diseases in many parts of our country. The use of pentavalent antimony compounds as first-line drugs for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis have several limitations and side effects. Hence the herbal drug can be good alternatives. In the ...
Read More
Cutaneous leishmaniasis is one of the endemic and common diseases in many parts of our country. The use of pentavalent antimony compounds as first-line drugs for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis have several limitations and side effects. Hence the herbal drug can be good alternatives. In the present study, the effect of essential oil of Pistacia atlantica Desf. on the growth of Leishmania major was investigated in in vivo and in vitro conditions. Initially, the essential oil of Pistacia atlantica with dilution of 1:50 to 1:3200 was evaluated on the promastigotes of Leishmania major, non-infected macrophages, and infected macrophages with amastigotes, in in vitro with MTT and flow cytometry tests. Also, the IC50 of the essential oil on the promastigotes of the Leishmania major (MRHO/IR/75/ER) was calculated. The ointment of Pistacia atlantica essential oil was used for treatment in in vivo condition. BALB /c mice were divided into three groups and in each group five mice including treated group with ointment of essential, treated group with glucantime and non-treated control group. The treatment was performed daily and once a day for four weeks. To assess the effect of the drugs, the wound diameter and weight and the mortality rate of the mice were measured every week. The ointment of Pistacia atlantica essential oil could inhibit the wounds diameter caused by Leishmania major. The flow cytometry results showed that Pistacia atlantica essential oil could create 10% apoptosis in the treated promastigotes. Overall, Pistacia atlantica essential oil was effective in eliminating the amastigotes of Leishmania major in the macrophages and culture media, and also the survival rate differences of treated mice and control group were significant.
A. Dalimi; M. Arbabi; R. Naserifar
Abstract
Cutaneous leishmaniasis is an endemic infectious disease known as a major health problem in many countries including Iran. Due to the lack of an effective vaccine, the disease is increasing in most parts of the world. Pentavalent antimony compounds as the first line drug against leishmaniasis has numerous ...
Read More
Cutaneous leishmaniasis is an endemic infectious disease known as a major health problem in many countries including Iran. Due to the lack of an effective vaccine, the disease is increasing in most parts of the world. Pentavalent antimony compounds as the first line drug against leishmaniasis has numerous side effects. Consequently, the need to introduce new, inexpensive and available drugs with fewer side effects to replace existing chemical compounds is fully felt. Herbal drugs could be a good alternative. In the present work, the effects of two native plants namely Artemisia sieberi Besser and Scrophularia striata Boiss. against Leishmania major were investigated under in vitro conditions. For this purpose, different concentrations of aqueous extracts of Artemisia and Scrophularia were investigated on the growth of promastigotes of Leishmania under in vitro conditions as well as growth of amastigote of Leishmania in mice macrophages. The results indicated that promastigotes in RPMI culture were killed completely under concentrations of 20% and 25% of Artemisia in the first day of the experiment; while the parasites were killed by Scrophularia at the concentration of 25% within three days. Reduction of the parasite growth in RPMI culture under three concentrations of Artemisia was significantly higher than that of Scrophularia. Concentrations of 20% of Artemisia in the second day and 25% of Scrophularia in the third day led to the complete elimination of amastigote of L. major in macrophages.
